Africa – Cyprus
– intolerance and everyday racist ignorance

I have for a number of years been actively engaged, in
terms of research, art, music and just opinions on ‘everyday’ representations
of people by themselves, of others and through others, like the media and
various esteemed authors. It’s the ‘everydayness’ of
certain ideas which create stereotypes that
contain misrepresentations through ‘common-sense’ ‘facts’ which
always calls me to object. Such inaccuracies are usually backed up
with the illogical claim of ‘that’s how it is’. Hardly anyone can actually
explain logically exactly what ‘that’s how it is’ really means. In other words
likes become naturalized and unacceptable. Many politicians do this for a
living. Donald Trump is the most loud and reactionary example of this. His
views on Muslims and his dangerous claim that he could even kill some one and
still be a leading candidate are the lowest levels of intellect (if we can call
it that) which a politician has slumped to. At the same time there are
‘everyday’ stereotypes which we often partake in, consume, accept perhaps
without even blinking an eyelid. There are also companies and organizations who
use stereotypes every day to justify their existence and ultimately sell
products and make money. I want to question this in terms of a number of 3
everyday products and brands in Cyprus
which depict Africa/Africans/Africaness in clearly derogatory and racist ways.
Interesting that all of these ironically come from places
which aspire to be alternative/different making their impact
more disturbing and questionable because when racism becomes so every day, so
subconscious even, it is more harmful as it’s just accepted as the way
things are .

The oldest one that comes to mind, and I have been
complaining about this since the early 1990’s is the logo of Laiko Kafekopteio,
an allegedly progressive organization whose name translates into English as
‘The People’s Coffee Grinding Company’ – which is linked to AKEL – The
Communist party of Cyprus. Since 1948 the company logo contains a depiction of
an African looking ‘bell-boy’ serving different packets of the company’s coffee
on a tray. The expression on his face looks shocked, motionless and
uncomfortably placed historically. As offensive as the ‘golliwogs’ that used to
be on Robertson’s jam jars and very ‘sambo’ looking . One can only assume that
despite its allegedly progressive image as a company Laiko’s main shareholder’s
must be pretty conservative, insensitive and ‘red-neck’ in their unwillingness
to change their logo. Furthermore this stance leaves them frozen in time,
trapped somewhere before the pre-civil rights era of the 1940’s when
racism was far more entrenched and exclusivist. With a logo likes this, Martin
Luther King, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Steve Biko, Maya Angelou, Public
Enemy and Nelson Mandela, never apparently happened.

Then we come to ‘Afrika’ newspaper, which reflects an
oppositional view to the establishment and status quo in northern occupied Cyprus. Its
owner Sener Levent is outspoken for his criticism of nationalism, occupation
and the division of Cyprus.
It is baffling, again, how someone so oppositional and allegedly ‘progressive’
can call their newspaper ‘Afrika’ – ‘Africa’.
Had the paper been published in Africa or if its content was Afrocentric, fair
enough but take one look at the above logo , where the ‘I’ in the
word is represented by a sketch of what looks to be a yellow (symbolizing
cowardice) faced ape, sitting sideways submissively with its face looking down.
Levent made the ‘transitition’ (SIC) in name when ‘Avrupa’ meaning Europe
become ‘Afrika’ apparently as a political protest over 10 years ago after
he had spent time in detention for expressing views against the former
self-declared leader of Turkish Cypriots, the late Rauf Denktash, who lets face
it was seldom tolerant to differences of opinion. The newspapers name reflects
a wider ‘everyday’ societal stereotype in Cyprus sowed time and time
again by people (often politicians) who claim snobbishly that ‘Cyprus is not Africa’ or ‘Cyprus is not like a small country
in Africa’ which assumes Cyprus is
perfect, a better place than anywhere in Africa
. Well folks like you all got it wrong, according to this newspaper ‘Cyprus’ is
‘Afrika’. Whereas in reality Africa is a
radically different from such demeaning and degrading imagery and text,
and again, the racism of this perverse idea reflects a bygone era of Apartheid
and systematic oppression of Africa and people
of African origin worldwide.

The final example is the most offensive. It comes from
‘Politis’ newspaper, again allegedly a newspaper that is supposed to be
independent politically – a difficult thing in Cyprus – the divided ‘CarobRepublic’
which has never been totally free nor independent. Every Sunday ‘Politis’
has a cartoon by Thanasis Papaspyropoulou entitled ‘Sti Hora Ton Zoulou’ which
translates in English as ‘In The Country’ or ‘land of the Zulus’ .
The image has a caricature of the cartoonist on the left looking a bit smarmy
gripping his pencil and pointing his finger rather nonchalantly. Some very
poorly designed graphics carry the title with the word ‘Zulu’ done in a
self-styled ‘Savanah filled’ font. The word ‘Hora’ is pieced together in a
ramshackle way like badly constructed fencing. On the Y (Ypsilon in Greek) of
the last letter in Zulu a caricature of a monkey smiles cheekily, with all
white teeth shining while holding a rather small banana. We can assume the
monkey is about the eat the banana as its half peeled and its size
relatively speaking indicates its local produce – Cyprus bananas are tiny
compared to the same fruit from anywhere else where the fruit is naturally
grown. The content of the cartoon is irrelevant as no matter what is being
conveyed this headline logo alone would never be acceptable to Zulu people, who
are proud of their culture, identity, roots and traditions. So this one would
not wash at well in KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa
and if by chance the cartoonist does find himself some day on a flight to King
Shaka Airport Durban I would suggest he thinks twice about stepping off onto
the tarmac – just in case someone has seen this ridiculously racist caricature.

What’s disappointing about these three examples is
they all come from so-called ‘alternative’ sources. What we expect from
overtly racist people and their organizations is to be expected, challenged and
rejected accordingly. So I say ‘Laiko’ Coffee, ‘Afrika’ and ‘Politis’
newspapers change your mindsets. Stop pandering to racism through these
depictions and be more respectful to Africa,
Africans and the richness and diversity of Africaness, and while you are at it
maybe read a book by Franz Fanon called ‘The Wretched of the Earth’

3 σχόλια:

I think that the last two examples are not racist, in that they are intented to shine the spotlight on the things in Cyprus that are backword and stuck in a time gone by. The use of connotations about Africa I think it is meant in a historical way as the last continent (aside from antarctica) to be explored and least developed at a time long ago and not as it is today. Some perceptions might have started out with a racist basis but when used today one doesn't want to be racist. Think how one might use the term "Beware of the Greeks bearing gifts". We might use the term in many situations with out meaning that we actually believe that the Greeks today are not to be trusted even when they seem to be offering something good. Also think of how we associate the color black with somethng evil/bad while white to show that something is good/pure.

The first one is definately racist and should be changed, many companies change and modernize their logos from time to time. As a matter of fact, why don't you start an online petition to request it, I'd gladly sign it.

Dear Anonymou, even a statement "like way as the last continent (aside from antarctica) to be explored and least developed at a time long ago and not as it is today" is highly contentious and offensive, and historically inaccurate. Africa has/had rich civilization and cultures before imperialism exploited it - not I do not use the word 'explored'. As for the petition its a good idea but should apply to all the examples mentioned as they are the same in their racist content. Are you seriously trying to say the Politis sketch or Afrika logo are not offensive/out of date? They are in my mind much worse...My main argument is we need to change the mindset on how we frame Africa and Africaness in Cyprus so I think the comment misses the point totally.